Crain’s Headlines: Sagging High-End Home Sales in 2020

Not a single home in the Chicago area sold for $4 million or more in January. It’s another piece of evidence that the top of the residential real estate market has sagged dramatically.

So says Crain’s reporter Dennis Rodkin, who just completed a tally of 2019 home sales and finds that January was the first month in at least five years when there were no Chicago-area home sales priced in that range.

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The January pause follows a big drop in sales at $4 million-and-up in 2019. There were 52 sales during the year, down from 73 in 2018.

In other Chicago-area business news:

Commercial real estate close to the Ogilvie Transportation Center in the West Loop continues to be red hot.

Crain’s reports Tuesday that a longtime office landlord at 150 N. Clinton St. plans a major renovation as well as a 100,000-square-foot addition to be constructed on a vacant lot next door.

At the same time, a real estate venture controlled by Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker is looking to cash out of a neighboring building at 564 W. Randolph St. Sources say the seven-story brick-and-timber building, which underwent a significant renovation in 2011, could fetch more than $28 million.

And finally, an ambitious plan to spark revitalization in the East Garfield Park neighborhood has received a pledge of $100 million.

The developer plans to buy a row of 13 vacant lots on the 2700 block of West Madison Street early next month. The plan includes 114 apartments, a tech incubator, a performing arts venue and retail spaces.

Crain’s Headlines is a joint production between WTTW and Crain’s Chicago Business. It airs every Monday through Thursday on the WTTW News program “Chicago Tonight.”